2 Deadly Blasts Rock Beirut, as Violence Seeps From Syria

An offshoot of Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for two explosions in southern Beirut on Wednesday.Credit
Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Two powerful explosions struck a busy area in southern Beirut near an Iranian cultural center on Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens in the latest in a series of bomb attacks on civilians here as violence continued to spill over from the war in neighboring Syria.

The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying it would continue such attacks until the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah withdrew its forces from Syria, where it is supporting the government’s fight against Syrian rebels and foreign-backed jihadist groups.

“We tell our people in Syria that Iran’s party won’t enjoy security in Lebanon until you restore security in Syria,” the group said in a statement posted on its Twitter account. Until Hezbollah pulls out of Syria and Sunni militants are released from Lebanese jails, it said, “we will continue targeting Iran and its party in Lebanon in their security, political and military bases.”

The group has also claimed responsibility for several other recent bombings in southern Beirut, appearing to view the sprawling area known simply as the Dahiya, or suburb, as a legitimate target because of the presence there of Hezbollah’s headquarters and many Hezbollah supporters.

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Security officials said the blasts killed several people and wounded dozens, the latest attack connected to the continuing war in neighboring Syria.Credit
Hussein Malla/Associated Press

Yet in practice, that has meant explosions that have killed civilians across a wide, bustling commercial and residential area, complicating and terrorizing life and commerce for a large segment of Beirut’s population, primarily Shiite but also including members of many other sects. New checkpoints clog traffic, stores have erected barriers of sandbags, and families worry about attacks as they go about their daily lives.

Wednesday’s bombing, which appeared to have involved two suicide attackers, took place in Bir Hassan, a neighborhood next to the Dahiya, near the Kuwaiti Embassy as well as the Iranian cultural center, where Iran’s ambassador said two employees were wounded. Burning cars and rubble littered the streets, and storefronts, residential buildings and buses were damaged.

Lebanon’s newly appointed minister of health, Wael Abu Faour, said that the bombing had killed five people and wounded 123, and that the body parts of what were believed to be two suicide bombers were found. The Lebanese Red Cross said that 128 had been wounded, with seven in critical condition. The death toll was expected to rise.

A car mechanic who works in the neighborhood and gave only a first name, Ahmed, said he was on his way to his garage on a motorbike and had just passed the bomb site when a loud explosion struck behind him. The pressure, he said, propelled him forward.

“I got to my garage really fast,” he said with bitter humor.

The bombing was the first since Lebanon formed a new cabinet after a nearly yearlong stalemate caused largely by political division over the war in Syria, with Hezbollah supporting the government, and its mainly Sunni rival, the Future Movement, supporting the Sunni insurgency. There had been hopes that the new government would bring stability, but the bombing underscored the fact that with porous borders and a fractured Syrian insurgency that no one party controls, Lebanon remained vulnerable.

A version of this article appears in print on February 20, 2014, on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: 2 Deadly Blasts Rock Beirut, as Violence Seeps From Syria. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe